No news is ... well, bad news.

After returning to practice Wednesday for just the second time since his Week 4 knee injury, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford (knee) missed Thursday’s workout. Coach Jim Schwartz would not comment on whether or not the rookie's absence signaled a setback in his recovery, but merely pointed to the team’s daily injury report, which showed only moderate improvement in players available from the day prior.

Expect Stafford's status to be a game-time decision again this Sunday, when the Lions play Green Bay at Lambeau Field. Daunte Culpepper got the nod last week against the Steelers.

Also missing from practice were WR Calvin Johnson (thigh), DT Sammie Hill (ankle), DE Jason Hunter (ankle), DT Grady Jackson (knee), RB Maurice Morris (hip), S Ko Simpson (hamstring) and DE Dewayne White (hamstring). Fullback Jerome Felton and TE Casey FitzSimmons (thigh) returned to practice in a limited basis, joining LBs Jordon Dizon and Ernie Sims, while OT Gosder Cherilus and TE Brandon Pettigrew fully participated in practice for the second straight day.

While Schwartz wouldn't speak in specifics, he did address injuries in general at his post-practice press conference Thursday.

"Your objective every week is to win that game. That's our objective this Sunday. That's our objective every single Sunday. I think the thing you need to balance with any player ... when you talk about an injury, you balance their ability to play, their ability to be effective on the field, their potential to make an injury worse, you balance all of those things," he said. "If a player is out there, and he can get through, but he can't be effective in his role, then it doesn't make any sense to play him. It pertains to every single position. "And if there's a potential that an injury is going to get worse, then you'd be in a position where you wouldn't play him. This is a tough game for tough people, and you're going to have to play through some injuries over the course of the season."